From: john grigg (starman125@hotmail.com)
Date: Mon Feb 21 2000 - 21:21:24 MST
Spike,
I just wanted to say how much your posts on how to raise children with the
appropriate values has touched me and gotten me thinking.
I think I may have liked your grandfather! Actually, I thought his advice
was sound. Knowing auto repair can give a person a real advantage in life.
At least before so much electronics got installed in them! lol But still,
it can save you money to do your own repairs and for those on a limited
income that can mean the difference between driving the car or taking the
bus. Also it can (sometimes) save you time by doing your own auto repair.
I can see the virue of arguements that explain that learning auto repair can
teach problem solving and increase cognitive power. Lastly, woman like a
guy who can work on their car!
Self-defense is still a very vital skill to have! Despite the high-tech
veneer on our society, it can still be very violent. Self-defense can give
a person peace of mind and a fighting chance to protect themselves and
others in situations where there is no other option. I would want any child
of mine, male or female, to have a good working knowledge of self-defense.
My heart went out to you when you desribed the fearful environment that
existed when you attended college. I remember faintly as a young teen the
news reports of the recession and the tight job market. At least it helped
you gain motivation to work hard in school, get good grades and graduate.
That was something when you tore out that picture of the young homeless
family and enscribed a message to yourself on it and then put it up in plain
sight as a constant reminder! Alot of college students today could use some
of your motivation, myself included. It is sad that you did not major in
your academic first love.
The ramen noodles and koolaid diet is not healthy! I have been on it
myself. Though you obviously did, I wonder how people can learn and
function optimally on a diet like that? I guess the good nutrition you had
in your formative years saw you through those four years. I think if any
group should be properly fed it is those in college. I am saddened also by
stories of gradeschool kids who cannot concentrate in school because they
are so hungry.
I can see how frustrating it must be to be a professional engineer, working
very hard but being financially outclassed by a child whose father invested
wisely on her behalf in companies you did not have the insight then to
invest in!
There are alot of people who are still working poor and just barely get by.
They work to eat and have shelter, not to buy toys for grownups. You are
very blessed compared to them. Of course, you had the self-discipline to
attend college and do well and at least some poor have a lack of that or did
when they were without kids. And not everyone has the intelligence to study
a fairly high paying field like engineering.
Children/young adults like her will have their own challenges though. It
would be easy to be lazy and be an adult spoiled brat and not develop one's
full potental in education, career and relationships. The curse of the
trustfund kid. Then there are those who earn the money themselves at a
young age and then must decide what new goals to set. I don't see them as
being as troubled.
you wrote:
No matter how hard I try, I cannot bring myself to say
that hard work no longer matters, only correct investment
strategy. That goes so hard against everything I have
always believed, I just cannot grok that message.
(end)
I agree! I think that even in a world of mature nanotech, hard work will
still be important for status and to attract mates. And as for the present,
it is hard work to invest properly and often people do just ok in their
investments or even lose their shirt! And doesn't it take hard work to get
the money to invest in the first place? So you still need a career or job
of some sort. Being educated is more important then ever. I can see how
teaching entreprenaurship could be very important for the young people of
today and tomorrow.
We will be a bunch of sad, old extropians if the scenario you gave comes
true. A world of much greater prosperity then even now but with a lack of
respect for privacy and civil liberties. I hope that is not the case.
Greg wrote:
The specific life-lessons that earlier generations passed on will doubtless
be of less and less value. But the core concepts of rational self-reliance
seem to me to be timeless. It ought to be possible to teach these in almost
any circumstance.
(end)
The many posts on this topic have been excellent and I enjoyed Greg's
perceptive comment above. Teaching young people to be educated and caring
individuals ready for the future will be a great challenge. I wish good
luck to any parents on the list.
sincerely,
John Grigg
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